Posted!

Join the Conversation

Comments

Welcome to our new and improved comments, which are for subscribers only.
This is a test to see whether we can improve the experience for you.
You do not need a Facebook profile to participate.

You will need to register before adding a comment.
Typed comments will be lost if you are not logged in.

Please be polite.
It's OK to disagree with someone's ideas, but personal attacks, insults, threats, hate speech, advocating violence and other violations can result in a ban.
If you see comments in violation of our community guidelines, please report them.

State Sen. Bryan Townsend has shot back at an opponent for a campaign strategy he's been employing almost since the beginning of the race, challenging his Congressional Democratic primary rival Sean Barney on another claim of being the "first" or "only" candidate with a specific policy point or accomplishment.

Townsend's team is taking issue with mailers delivered by the Barney campaign, such as one painting the combat-wounded marine as "the one Democrat who gets things done." Barney says his rivals are making a fuss because he's gaining ground on them, but Townsend said those claims are a deliberate attempt to obscure the truth.

“Primary voters are the most informed and knowledgeable voters we have in our state,” Townsend said in a statement. “These are folks who pay attention and know the kind of hard work I’ve been putting in on their behalf. They know who has been leading on the issues that matter most to them, and they respect hard work and integrity above all else.”

The primary is Sept. 13 to fill the seat being vacated by Congressman John Carney, who is running for governor.

Part of Barney's campaign strategy has been releasing detailed policy plans on issues like Social Security expansion, reducing gun violence and mitigating income inequality, often propped up with words such as "only." All are attempts to distinguish him in a crowded field as a capable and experienced leader, nearly always backed by direct references to his military service, which included an ambush in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, where he was shot through the neck.

"It's an important thing to do, and where we've done it is simply factual, simply true," Barney said.

Barney was a relatively unknown part of Delaware government before entering the race. He lost a bid for the state treasurer seat and served as an aide to Sen. Tom Carper and policy director for Gov. Jack Markell. But he's made those experiences integral to his campaigning from the start.

Candidates for U.S. House (from left) Mike Miller, Bryan Townsend and Sean Barney debate at the University of Delaware on April 13. The Democratic primary is in September.(Photo: WILLIAM BRETZGER/THE NEWS JOURNA)

"As policy director to the governor, I fought to raise the minimum wage and expand gun background checks. While we have made progress in Delaware, these common sense ideas have stalled in Washington," Barney said in a February op-ed published in The News Journal. "To address our challenges, we must begin to loosen the grip of special interests. That’s why this week I became the first Delaware congressional candidate to unveil a reform plan to reduce the influence of money in politics and ensure that our government delivers results for working families."

It's language like that which Townsend and others in the race, including former state Secretary of Labor Lisa Blunt Rochester and downstate businessman Mike Miller, take issue. Each has staked ground — in speeches, on websites or both — on issues for which Barney claims primacy.

Sean Barney, Bryan Townsend and Lisa Blunt Rochester enter a Congressional debate hosted by Delaware Council on Global and Muslim Affairs at UAW Conference Hall in Newark on Aug. 15. The primary is Tuesday.(Photo: DOUG CURRAN/SPECIAL TO THE NEWS)

"In Congress, Bryan (Townsend) will be a leading voice for campaign finance reform by continuing the fight for a constitutional amendment to eliminate big money in politics. In addition, he will work to pass the DISCLOSE Act and support other efforts to increase transparency and fix our broken campaign finance system," Townsend's website states.

And Blunt Rochester's website says she's "running to stand up to the radicals who are putting NRA campaign contributions above the lives of our children.”

"In Congress, Lisa will stand up to the NRA by: Working to close loopholes that allow criminals easy access to guns; Fighting for expanded background checks and instituting a cooling-off period for anyone who wants to buy a gun; Pushing for more resources to fix our mental health system; Championing programs aimed at strengthening police/community relations," her website reads.

And while he doesn't want to raise the minimum wage as high as his opponents do, Miller said he's made earnings a part of his platform from the beginning.

"The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour and has been for 10 years. If you are lucky to work 40 hours, who can live off $290.00 dollars per week before taxes, daycare, rent and food. I will tell you no one. This is why I will support a bill to raise the minimum wage to a livable wage of at least $11 per hour," his website reads.

Barney defended himself against pushback by saying his claims are more nuanced than his opponents are making them appear:

A mailer that reads "Only one candidate has helped raise the minimum wage AND expand Medicare Part D to cover seniors' prescription drugs" has the word "and" capitalized for the reason of personal distinction from other candidates. On this issue, he said he doesn't claim to be the only one with a position but is the only one who's been an active part of a solution for both points.

His Social Security plan has specific points which he says Townsend and Blunt Rochester do not support, making him the "only" one to hold that position.

Blunt Rochester stayed above the fray when asked about Barney's claims, but called them "a distraction and a distortion." Miller was more willing to engage.

"I've seen his language, and if you go back to our first debate, he's not the first one to talk about it. I'm the first one to talk about it with our seniors receiving social security benefits and taking the cap off of social security, gun control. I'm the one that spoke about it," Miller said. "Sean Barney has now just come out talking about these things."

But Barney's superlatives also are catching flak from those standing outside the congressional race. Whether it's his claims of instrumentality in closing gun show loopholes for firearms purchases or his talk on the minimum wage, others close to those decisions are discounting him.

Ed Osienski represents the 24th District in the House of Representatives.(Photo: File photo)

“I was proud to work with my colleagues to increase the minimum wage in 2014. Sean Barney had no involvement in those efforts, while Bryan Townsend was a driving force,” said state Rep. Ed Osienski, D-Newark, himself part of that legislative issue. “Over the past four years, Bryan has voted twice to raise Delaware's minimum wage. And he co-sponsored legislation that would have tied future increases to the rise in cost-of-living. Sean's right, there is only one candidate in this race that's helped pass a minimum wage increase. But it wasn't Sean, it was Bryan."

And in May, Delaware Legislature majority leader state Rep. Valerie Longhurst, D-Bear, made a Facebook post hitting Barney on his record for gun control legislation. The post was deleted later, but the message was clear.

"I'm not sure why Sean Barney keeps bragging about helping with background checks in the legislature. I was the prime (sponsor) on the (National Instant Criminal Background Check System) bill and closing the gun show loophole. I never knew he was a member of the Gov staff," Longhurst wrote.

Barney said his work on the issues he's taking credit for didn't always put him in the limelight, but that fact shouldn't obscure his experience with the levers of government.

"My work as policy director to the governor sometimes involved working with legislators. Sometimes it involved working internally within the administration. It involved both of those things," Barney said.

Townsend and Barney both have labeled their sides of this argument as desperation — Townsend saying Barney is worried about his poll numbers and Barney saying Townsend is concerned he's falling behind in fundraising.

A News Journal poll concerning the congressional race released in July ranked the candidates. Townsend and Rochester both had 11 percent of the poll's support; Miller had 9 percent; businessman Scott Walker had 6 percent; Barney had 4 percent; 3 percent said they wouldn't vote; 3 percent said they'd vote for someone else; and 53 percent were undecided.

Townsend has raised $651,575 since the start of his campaign. Barney has raised $660,829 overall; Blunt Rochester raised $566,394; and Miller raised $13,011.

Barney raised more money than all his rivals in the most recent reporting period, bringing in $660,892 compared to Townsend's $651,575, Miller's $171,708 and Blunt Rochester's $171,696, but she also loaned herself $225,000 on Wednesday. Walker and James Elias, the most recent entrant into the race, do not have filings with the Federal Election Commission.

Republican Hans Reigle, who will face the winner of the Sept. 13 Democratic primary in the general election, raised $36,858 over the most recent reporting period.